NYPD: Guns were taken from cop in murder-suicide

An off-duty NYPD officer who investigators said shot his wife to death and then killed himself in Queens had his service weapons taken away from him last month following a dispute with his spouse, officials said.

Sherlon Smikle, 33, an eight-year veteran of the force, shot his wife, Lana Morris, 46, with a shotgun Wednesday as the woman fled the couple's St. Albans home following an argument. Smikle then went back inside the house and shot himself once in the head with the shotgun, according to police. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Until recently, Smikle and Morris, who had worked as a school crossing guard since last year, didn't have any record of domestic violence, said a spokeswoman for the NYPD.

But after the couple had a dispute last month, police investigators ordered Smikle to turn in his two 9-mm service pistols, said the spokeswoman. Smikle was asked at that time if he had any other guns and said he did not, the spokeswoman added. While there was an order of protection against Smikle, he was still living in the home at 183-74 Camden Ave., said an official, adding that the couple had an 8-year-old daughter who was unharmed.

Smikle was on modified duty and assigned to a housing police unit at the time of his death. Morris was taken to Queens General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 8:14 p.m., said police.